The present invention relates to ambulance cots used to load patients into the back of an ambulance. More particularly, the present invention relates to a roll-in chair cot with three cot height positions.
In transporting emergency patients from their homes to a hospital for treatment, it is oftentimes necessary to remove the patient from his home using an ambulance cot, wherein the patient is situated thereon in a generally supine position. As well known in the art, such cots are typically provided with an undercarriage having a rollable base which facilitates transportation of the patient situated upon the cot in either a fully elevated or a fully lowered cot height position to an ambulance parked near the patient's home. The undercarriage may be collapsed, thereby permitting the cot, its undercarriage, and the patient situated thereon to be rolled into the back of the ambulance in a fully lowered position for transportation to the hospital.
However, in removing the patient from his home, it is sometimes difficult for paramedics to place the patient on the cot situated in either the fully lowered or the fully elevated cot height position, such as is typical for prior art cots. Additionally, it is often difficult—sometimes impossible—for paramedics to traverse stairs, and narrow hallways and doorways, with the cot in either the fully lowered or the fully elevated cot height position.